Photo: Manchester United Manager Jose Mourinho and Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp will lock horns at Old Trafford on Sunday in an English Premier League top six blockbuster. (Getty Images)
Two of England’s football powerhouses and greatest rivals are set to lock horns at the ‘Theatre Of Dreams’ on Sunday, as the battle for English Premier League supremacy intensifies.
The red hot Manchester United will host a luke warm Liverpool in an epic 11 o’clock kick off (local time) in the English Premier League. Manchester United are flying high after six straight victories in the EPL, 9 straight overall and are unbeaten in their last 15 matches across all competitions.
How José Mourinho would love to continue 2017 in a similar vein with a seventh win. However, he will be without Eric Bailey, who has joined up with his Ivory Coast team-mates for the Africa Cup of Nations while Michael Carrick and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were rested in their 2-0 win over Hull City in the EFL Cup semi-finals. Marcos Rojo is doubtful after he picked up a knock in a 4-0 home win against Reading in their 4th round FA Cup tie.
The Reds on the other hand lost to Southampton 1-0 in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final at Saint Mary’s Park on Wednesday and remain without a win in their last three games in all competitions. The daunting trip to Old Trafford to face an in-form Manchester United may prove to be a tricky encounter. The away side is without their leading talisman Sadio Mane who is off to Senegal, Joel Matip the engine in Liverpool’s midfield is off to Cameroon for the African Cup of Nations, Jordan Henderson is still on the treatment table and strikers Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge are not fully fit after recently returning from injury. Sturridge came off the bench against a stubborn Plymouth and Coutinho came off the bench against a well organized Southampton.
This game marks the 50th Premier League meeting between Manchester United and Liverpool, with Manchester United coming out victors 27 times while Liverpool could only muster 13 wins. In their last encounter at Anfield, Liverpool were held to a 0-0 draw by a well coached Manchester United team.
Goalkeeper David de Gea made two fine second-half saves from Emre Can and Philippe Coutinho to deny Liverpool the chance to move joint top of the Premier League. It was dubbed ‘Red Monday’, but the game was largely controlled by the away side playing in blue – they however missed a good chance to take all three points when Zlatan Ibrahimovic missed a simple second-half header.
Jurgen Klopp’s attacking options were limited from the start as Georginio Wijnaldum missed out through injury and Adam Lallana was only fit enough to make the bench, which meant Can and Daniel Sturridge were given a chance to impress. With Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard dropping out of the United team with Marouane Fellaini included in midfield and Ashley Young – starting a league game for the first time since January – given the nod as the left-sided attacker the Red Devils decided to “Park the Bus” and as such walked away with a point.
Since winning the title in 1989-1990 Liverpool has only managed to finish 2nd four times. Ironically losing the title to Manchester United 2 times out of those four times. Liverpool stand as the league’s top goal scorers, notching 48 goals in their opening 20 games of the season, but have gone two successive games without a goal against Plymouth Argyle and Southampton. Liverpool sits 2nd with 44 points after 20 games with a staggering record of 13 wins, 5 draws and 2 losses.
Unfortunately the two losses were away fixtures and to make matters worse the Reds have lost 11 of their last 14 meetings at Old Trafford, including last season’s 3-1 defeat with goals from Daley Blind, Ander Herrera and young starlet Anthony Martial. Jose Mourinho will be well aware that his team can stand 10 yards further forward up the pitch when Mane doesn’t play, because everyone wants the ball to feet. If captain
Jordan Henderson should miss this weekend’s game and Jurgen Klopp may opt to play Lucas Leiva in the hole. One shouldn’t underestimate what Henderson does, he brings energy to that midfield, they really missed his energy, influence and drive against Southampton. Liverpool are too one-dimensional; passing the ball to feet for technically-gifted players, and will miss the running in-behind so often performed by Mane.
Since the renaming of the league from Division one, Manchester United has only finished outside of the top 4 three times and they have never gone more than 3 years without winning the title. Jose Mourinho has found a winning formula after a poor start to the season and will be looking to Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney for the goals. Zlatan has 13 goals in his first 19 Premier League appearances, the same as Dwight Yorke and Robin Van Persie. The only other player to score more in their first 19 Premier League appearances is Ruud van Nistelrooy (15).
Rooney could be the 21st player in Premier League history to reach a landmark of 450 games and if he should score would surpass Sir Bobby Charlton’s tally of 249 goals, making him Manchester United’s all time leading scorer.
This game will see a battle of two of the modern game tacticians. Jose will be wary of the fact that he has only beaten Klopp once out of six meeting and that win came in a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in a Champions League semi finals while he was at Real Madrid. This clash has seen 16 red cards, only Liverpool and Everton has produced more dismissals, 21 to be precise. If Micheal Oliver can keep his cards in his pocket, the spectators will be in for a sumptuous treat. A win for Manchester United could see them leapfrog title contenders Arsenal, while a win for Liverpool could see them cutting the deficit within 2 points.
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